# Favorite Inexpensive Porto?



## pistol

Mine would have to be the Taylor Fladgate Late Bottled Vintage. At $22.00/bottle, it's affordable enough to be an "every day" desert wine, but I enjoy it pretty well. It's a tad dry, but for the price, I can't expect perfection! The nose is nice and sweet; I get a very pleasant blend of raisins and dark berries. The body and appearance are dark and satisfying. It's very fruity sweet on the palate and is especially sweet on the tip of my tongue. It finishes pretty well, if not a little "hot" (the alcohol is a little more prominent than I'd like, but not unpleasant). All in all, I think this is a great value porto that I enjoy by myself or with guests!:tu


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## bobarian

Six Grapes at about $18 or Sandeman Vintage Rsv for around the same price. 
I will have to keep my eyes open for the Taylor LBV


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## The Professor

To be honest, I've been happy with *every* LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) I've had.


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## pistol

The Professor said:


> To be honest, I've been happy with *every* LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) I've had.


Yeah, I'm halfway through a 2000 vintage right now. It's been open for about a week now, and the flavors haven't faded (that I can notice!).


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## muziq

The Professor said:


> To be honest, I've been happy with *every* LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) I've had.


I'm *about* to be happy with a certain Graham's LBV  (think I may crack it open tonight, if the breezes drop off outside).


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## mikeyj23

Warres Otima 10yr - super yummy and inexpensive ($20-$25 for 500ml)


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## volfan

I like the Otima 10 and Fonseca Bin 27 pretty good but I really like the taste of Taylor LBV a bit better.


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## Old Sailor

Taylor Fladgate 20 yr, and six grapes :dr:dr


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## mosesbotbol

My Best Picks on Cheap Side:

Ramos Pinto LBV
Niepoort LBV
Warre LBV
Costco/Kirkland 10 Year Tawny
Sandeman 20 Year Tawny
Ramos Pinto 10 or 20 Year Tawny
Ferreira 10 or 20 Year Tawny
Dow 1992 Colheita
Dow Crusted Port

I stay away from any port that does not have a clear indication of age on the bottle; either a vintage year or age in the barrel.

More Expensive Side:

1970 - Any Brand
1985 - Any Brand
1977- Any Brand
Neipoort Colheita - Any Year

I could go on all day about vintage port, but I am just keeping it general. Let me know of a specific vintage and house and will let you know. I have more than my share of vintage port...

Make sure to serve at 60-62 degrees.


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## Andyman

muziq said:


> I'm *about* to be happy with a certain Graham's LBV  (think I may crack it open tonight, if the breezes drop off outside).


I had a Grahams 96 LBV that I enjoyed very much..


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## mosesbotbol

The best bet for a cigar is Bual or Malmsey Madeira over port. If you go with a port, tawny works better with a cigar for me.


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## mosesbotbol

muziq said:


> I'm *about* to be happy with a certain Graham's LBV  (think I may crack it open tonight, if the breezes drop off outside).


I've recently been drinking various vintages of Grahams. Since New Years, I've had: 1950, 1955, 1963, 1970, and 1977... All were quite good. I thought the 77 was lighter than I was expecting from Grahams.

Grahams is one my favorite houses in port. Not too crazy about their tawny or LBV's, but are a 1st tier in Vintage Port.


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## Corona Gigante-cl

I was recently singing the praises of Smith Woodhouse 1995 LBV Porto.

At around $20 for the bottle, I think it's a terrific value.


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## JohnnyFlake

Six Grapes and Taylor LBV are well worth the $20/$25 price tags. However, there is a Trader Joe House Brand Porto that sell for about $8 and it's very good, however, I can't recall the name. I am stopping there later today, so I'll mention it later.


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## Coach

six grapes is good but $25btl here in OH.
a nice port is Clock Tower from Australia. nice and roughly 14-16 a btl.


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## JohnnyFlake

Earlier I mentioned a very good Porto that is only sold by Trader Joes in the USA. I had forgotten the name. I was going to TJs today anyway, so I picked up a bottle of the Tawny. It's called Morgado, and sells for $6.99 a 750 bottle. It's available in Ruby & Tawny. You should give this a try, I prefer the Tawny. I think you will be surprised at good it is, especially for the price!


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## mosesbotbol

From Trader Joes stuff the Porto Morgado 85 Vintage is good deal. It is certainly not the Fonseca 85, but served by itself it's a fine.

*The Ramos Pinto LBV is the best value port I have tried so far. Many also like the Noval unfiltered LBV.*

Next weekend we are doing a Croft vertical. We will have every vintage from 1896 to 1970. There will be 8 of us and 14 or so bottles... :hn This will be the most comprehensive Croft tasting ever held, and Croft recently held one for a book they are writing that included James Suckling and the like (ours is going to be more complete).

This tasting will go down in history. Attendees are from both coasts, as well as England. :chk


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## pistol

mosesbotbol said:


> From Trader Joes stuff the Porto Morgado 85 Vintage is good deal. It is certainly not the Fonseca 85, but served by itself it's a fine.
> 
> *The Ramos Pinto LBV is the best value port I have tried so far. Many also like the Noval unfiltered LBV.*
> 
> Next weekend we are doing a Croft vertical. We will have every vintage from 1896 to 1970. There will be 8 of us and 14 or so bottles... :hn This will be the most comprehensive Croft tasting ever held, and Croft recently held one for a book they are writing that included James Suckling and the like (ours is going to be more complete).
> 
> This tasting will go down in history. Attendees are from both coasts, as well as England. :chk


That sounds like a freakin' blast! Enjoy it!:tu


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## Ron1YY

Old Sailor said:


> Taylor Fladgate 20 yr, and six grapes :dr:dr


Nailed my favorites Right There!!!!!!!!!

Ron


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## mosesbotbol

pistol said:


> That sounds like a freakin' blast! Enjoy it!:tu


Thanks. I checked our line up. There's a few vintages we are missing, as they are not available in Britian or USA anywhere. We just also added 77 and 85, but I would prefer to drink those the night before as they won't get the attention deserved when we already have 14+ bottles to finish between 8 people!

By the time this event is through with pre and post event ports, the 8 of us will be into 20+ bottles!

Looks like we are having this at a friend's apartment in the penthouse of the Four Seasons in Boston; she is quite generous to have 8 drunken guys pontificating about port for hours on end... Smoking cigars of course :cb


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## variable

mosesbotbol said:


> I could go on all day about vintage port, but I am just keeping it general. Let me know of a specific vintage and house and will let you know. I have more than my share of vintage port...
> 
> Make sure to serve at 60-62 degrees.


Wow ! I just joined CS, hoped for good info on cigars now I find port info !

I just tried a port called *Noval Tawny Porto* form Portugal and I like it a lot. Anyone know of it's background? 
It went very well with my Hoya last night :cb


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## mosesbotbol

variable said:


> Wow ! I just joined CS, hoped for good info on cigars now I find port info !
> 
> I just tried a port called *Noval Tawny Porto* form Portugal and I like it a lot. Anyone know of it's background?
> It went very well with my Hoya last night :cb


That is Noval's basic, base port entry. Noval is an excellent house. They had a down period for about 20 years or so in the 70-80's but are now back and making excellent stuff.

Their highest end port, Nacional, is made by Noval. Noval's Colheitas are wonderful and their LBV's are a good value. I would go for a Noval LBV next, if I were you.

A few weeks ago, I had a 1967 Nacional. Must've been around $1500-2000+ USD, and at that age, this port is still a baby. We had it decanted 5+ hours, and was still tight! Truly amazing and mind blowing to think this port will out live all of us.


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## cre8v1

The Total Wine here in Columbia has Six Grapes for $16.99. I tried it at MMH III (first time I've EVER had port) for the first time and ran out and picked up a few when I got home. I look forward to trying some of these others you guys have listed in this thread. :tu


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## variable

mosesbotbol said:


> That is Noval's basic, base port entry. Noval is an excellent house. They had a down period for about 20 years or so in the 70-80's but are now back and making excellent stuff.
> 
> Their highest end port, Nacional, is made by Noval. Noval's Colheitas are wonderful and their LBV's are a good value. I would go for a Noval LBV next, if I were you.


Wow thanks for the update mosesbotbol 
It sounds like I got a good starter, I will be on the lookout for the LBV.
(Do I look for "LBV" or does that stand for somthing?)


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## mosesbotbol

variable said:


> Wow thanks for the update mosesbotbol
> It sounds like I got a good starter, I will be on the lookout for the LBV.
> (Do I look for "LBV" or does that stand for somthing?)


LBV - Late Bottle Vintage. What that means is that the wine stays in a a barrel for 4 years instead of two, to "speed" up the port and make it drinkable at a younger age than Vintage Port. The quality of the "juice" that goes into LBV varies between makers and vintages. Some LBV's are filtered when bottled, and some are not. Most serious port drinkers prefer the unfiltered LBV as that is closer to Vintage Port and has better aging potential.

An unfiltered LBV can age 20+ years no problem.

My favorite LBV's are:

Ramos Pinto
Warre (especially '94, then '95)
Noval


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## variable

mosesbotbol said:


> LBV - Late Bottle Vintage. What that means is that the wine stays in a a barrel for 4 years instead of two, to "speed" up the port and make it drinkable at a younger age than Vintage Port. The quality of the "juice" that goes into LBV varies between makers and vintages. Some LBV's are filtered when bottled, and some are not. Most serious port drinkers prefer the unfiltered LBV as that is closer to Vintage Port and has better aging potential.
> 
> An unfiltered LBV can age 20+ years no problem.
> 
> My favorite LBV's are:
> 
> Ramos Pinto
> Warre (especially '94, then '95)
> Noval


Thanks for the update, mosesbotbol.
Hay, Noval is in there with the favorits.


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## FoZzMaN

Did anyone mention Warre's Warrior? Also in the $15-20/btl range, and IMHO better than the Bin27 or the 6Grapes.

Also worth trying (if you don't mind being a Port "heathen" sinc, being Aussie, it's not technically a Porto) is Hardy's "Whisker's Blake" Tawny - about $13-14 in most grocery stores here in NC. Such strong notes of butter & caramel, it's hard to believe it comes from grapes. Goes well with cigars, also.


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## Chico57

Grahams Tawny or Warres Kings Tawny. Both around $13.99-$16.99/750ml bottle. Not bad tasting for an inexpensive bottle.
Also if you like Australian port Benjamin's isn't bad. Just my:2


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